''The Dog Who Saved Christmas'' is a 2009 American

made-for-television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made fo ...

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

starring

Dean Cain Dean George Cain ( Tanaka; born July 31, 1966) is an American actor. From 1993 to 1997, he played Clark Kent / Superman in the TV series '' Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman''. Cain was the host of '' Ripley's Believe It or Not!'' a ...

Gary Valentine Gary Joseph Knipfing (born November 22, 1961), better known by his stage name Gary Valentine, is an American actor and comedian. He is the older brother of actor Kevin James. He starred as Danny Heffernan in ''The King of Queens'' (1998–200 ...

and the voice of

Mario Lopez Mario Lopez (born October 10, 1973) is an American actor and television host. He has appeared on several television series, in films, and on Broadway. He is known for his portrayal of A.C. Slater on '' Saved by the Bell'', '' Saved by the Bell ...

. It was written by childhood friends Michael Ciminera and Richard Gnolfo. It premiered on ABC Family on November 29, 2009 during their Countdown to 25 Days of Christmas programming block. It was ranked as the number one cable program during its timeslot, and the number one cable film in the winter of the 2009 with 4.0 million viewers.

Plot

Zeus, a Labrador Retriever and a former police dog, has lost his bark after his barking ended up blowing off a five-year investigation and his partner can't shoot straight again and ends up at the pound. He is adopted by George Bannister as both an early Christmas present and as a good

guard dog A guard dog or watchdog (not to be confused with an attack dog) is a dog used to watch for and guard property against unwanted or unexpected human or animal intruders. The dog is discerning so that it does not annoy or attack the resident hum ...

for the house, but the mom is hesitant and didn't want a dog. The dog is left home alone on Christmas Eve when the family head off to visit Grandma's house. A pair of

burglars Burglary, also called breaking and entering and sometimes housebreaking, is the act of entering a building or other areas without permission, with the intention of committing a criminal offence. Usually that offence is theft, robbery or murder ...

, Ted Stein and Stewey McMann break into the family home, and it is up to Zeus to save

for his new family by setting up booby traps to stop them. Zeus soon gets caught by the burglars and they muzzle him and continue to rob the house. Zeus escapes while Ted and Stewey continue to rob the house. Zeus gets chased through the house by Ted and Stewey until Stewey accidentally pepper sprayed himself. Ted then takes out a tranquilizer gun and tries to shoot Zeus but gets Stewey instead knocking him out. Ted tries to escape the house (with Stewey who's still knocked out) but Zeus finishes them off for good by dropping a chandelier on them, knocking the two robbers out. The police come and arrest Ted and Stewey and Zeus finally barks. The family come back and see Ted and Stewey getting arrested and spend a Merry Christmas together.

Cast

as Zeus *

as Ted Stein *

Elisa Donovan Lisa Adaline Donovan (born February 3, 1971), known professionally as Elisa Donovan, is an American actress. She played the role of Amber in the 1995 teen comedy film ''Clueless'', and reprised her role in the TV series of the same name (1996-1 ...

as Belinda Bannister *

Sierra McCormick Sierra McCormick (born October 28, 1997) is an American actress. She first became known for participating on the game show '' Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?'' (2007–2008) before making her acting debut with a recurring role as Lilith on t ...

as Kara Bannister *

Adrienne Barbeau Adrienne Jo Barbeau (born June 11, 1945) is an American actress, singer and the author of three books. Barbeau came to prominence in the 1970s as Broadway's original Rizzo in the musical '' Grease'', and as Carol Traynor, the divorced daughter o ...

as Mildred *

as George Bannister *

Mindy Sterling Mindy Lee Sterling (born July 11, 1953) is an American television, film and voice actress. She portrayed Frau Farbissina in the ''Austin Powers'' film series and starred in the web series ''Con Man'', the latter of which earned her a Primetime ...

as Grandma Bannister *

Joey Diaz José Antonio Díaz (born February 19, 1963), known professionally as Joey "CoCo" Diaz, is a Cuban-American stand-up comedian, actor, and podcaster. After pursuing stand-up comedy full time in 1991 in the Colorado and Seattle areas, Diaz relocat ...

as Stewey McMann It also features members of the production team in various supporting roles. Writers Richard Gnolfo and Michael Ciminera are credited as Policeman 1 & 2, while the director/producer Michael Feifer is credited as Police Officer 2.

Reception

''The Dog Who Saved Christmas'' was broadcast on Sunday, November 29, 2009 and was

cable Cable may refer to: Mechanical * Nautical cable, an assembly of three or more ropes woven against the weave of the ropes, rendering it virtually waterproof * Wire rope, a type of rope that consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a hel ...

's number one program during its time period of 8:00pm–10:00pm with 4.0 million viewers. It was also ranked number one in scripted telecasts on cable during that Sunday, and became the season's number one cable film. It had a 14% increase in viewers from the same timeslot in the previous year. Critics compared it to another Christmas dog themed TV movie of 2009, '' A Dog Named Christmas'' and cited influences from ''

Home Alone ''Home Alone'' is a 1990 American Christmas comedy film directed by Chris Columbus and written and produced by John Hughes. The first film in the ''Home Alone'' franchise, the film stars Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern, John Hea ...

'' and ''

Look Who's Talking ''Look Who's Talking'' is a 1989 American romantic comedy film written and directed by Amy Heckerling, and starring John Travolta and Kirstie Alley. Bruce Willis plays the voice of Mollie's son, Mikey. The film features George Segal as Albert ...

''. ''A Dog Named Christmas'' was broadcast on the same night as ''The Dog Who Saved Christmas'' with the original timings overlapping by an hour. Critics rated ''A Dog Named Christmas'' as the superior film over ''The Dog Who Saved Christmas,'' but praised the performances of

and

. ''The Dog Who Saved Christmas'' won several "Yulies" from the Popwatch column on

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cu ...

's website. The categories it won included "MVP: Most Valuable Pooch" and "Best Use of Dean Cain". It was given the "Family Approved" seal by

The Dove Foundation The Dove Foundation is an American non-profit organization based in Portland, Oregon, that issues film reviews, ratings and endorsements of movies that it considers suitable for family audiences, and that bases said reviews on Christian values. D ...

. Commonsense Media graded it as appropriate for ages 6 and up.

Sequels

A sequel, ''

The Dog Who Saved Christmas Vacation ''The Dog Who Saved Christmas Vacation'' is a 2010 American made-for-television Christmas comedy film and a sequel to the ABC Family 2009 movie '' The Dog Who Saved Christmas''. The movie stars Paris Hilton in her first voice role, as the poodle ...

'', aired on ABC Family in 2010. A second sequel, ''The Dog Who Saved Halloween'', was released directly to DVD in September 2011. A third sequel, ''The Dog Who Saved the Holidays'', was released directly to DVD on December 4, 2012. A fourth sequel, ''The Dog Who Saved Easter'', was released directly to DVD on April 8, 2014. It stars Dean Cain, Elisa Donovan, Beverley Mitchell, Mario Lopez, Patrick Muldoon, Matthew Lawrence and Catherine Hicks. A fifth sequel, ''The Dog Who Saved Summer'', was released directly to DVD on June 2, 2015. It stars Dean Cain, Gary Valentine, Elisa Donovan, Patrick Muldoon, Mario Lopez, Martin Kove, James Hong and William Zabka.

Characters

* A dark grey cell indicates the character was not in the film.

Crew

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dog Who Saved Christmas American Christmas films ABC Family original films Christmas television films Films about dogs 2009 television films 2009 films Films directed by Michael Feifer 2000s Christmas films Police dogs in fiction 2000s English-language films